​Looking ahead to Sunday with Pastor Sara: A picture of hope

by Pastor Sara Spohr

Today, I went for a morning run around Lake Hiawatha and this Hamilton lyric was stuck in my head the whole way. “But the sun comes up and the world still spins.” If you’ve seen the musical, you know that this particular lyric comes from the song “What’d I Miss.” It’s sung by an excited, eager, and hopeful Thomas Jefferson as he arrives back in the United States from France after the Revolutionary War. He’s more than ready to be a part of a brand new government. If you know the show, or know your constitutional history, you also know this – there will be obstacles.

As I write this morning, it is Wednesday Nov. 4, 2020, and one of the few things I know for certain is that the sun has come up, and the world still spins. We’ve returned from the “far off” land of campaigns and political promises. We’re both weary and eager for a hopeful turn of page in our country. It doesn’t matter how you voted. There are still obstacles. “But …

... the sun comes up and the world still spins.”

Not only that, and far more importantly, God is still God. Full stop.  

We know that God created humanity with the capacity for love. This is our work, and it continues to be our work no matter who sits in the seats of power in our government. My pastor friend has said this: "If we think that the results of this presidential election could somehow outperform the love of God, then we should spend some time exploring where our faith is rooted." 

God has created you with love. Acts of service, no matter how small or seemingly insignificant, are your way of sharing the power of God’s love at work in the world. Now, as much as ever, we need to see this, name this, celebrate this God-given love.

Here’s your opportunity to respond this week: Big or small, share the story of an act of kindness that inspired you. Click here to tell your story.  

This morning on my run, I had to pause at the top of the hill by the Hiawatha clubhouse because the view was breathtaking. The lake was covered in fog and the mist spread across the golf course where geese were still resting. Behind the lake and the trees, the sun rose with the warmest orange glow. It was postcard worthy. For me, for this day, it was a picture of hope.

“But the sun comes up and the world still spins.”  

I’m not trying to gloss over a difficult day and deeply divided political climate with a “just have hope and everything will be okay” kind of statement. It will be hard. There will be disappointments. Our notions of justice and love will be questioned. The strength of our love will be tested. I am telling you, that as we share these pictures, stories, moments of love, these are the hints of hope that we so desperately need to see. In them, we will be reminded that a God of love is at work. In every single act of kindness you encounter today, God’s love is at work. Do not underestimate the love of God. Do not underestimate what God can do in you. It is beautiful.

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